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1/15/2013 1:00PM

Armstrong: a Convinced and Convincing Liar

Dorothy Rabinowitz offers her take on Lance Armstrong sit-down with Oprah Winfrey regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Also, Jason Riley on Colin Powell calling out some Republicans on grounds of racism.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... the ... I ... welcome to Opinion Journal one Mary Kissel ... Lance Armstrong infested tilting in the secular Church of Oprah this week ... in segments that will air Thursday and Friday ... well this revelation be enough to resurrect his reputation ... editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz joins me now ... to discuss store see ... what does it say about our society that we we can ... a compulsive liar like Lance Armstrong this budget national attention ... I don't know but you know flown once that diverge ... and say the target of the soul but the first and foremost less Johnstone who is indeed is to say ... unconvinced and convincing Lyon who ... coached great cry and that seemed to me first is ... the sense that he is entitled ... to this aligning the notes could carry on ... U S the year of persuasive lying everything going into ... and so ... Nokia second question ... what does that say ... that this person has been credited the core been accorded reverence ... had his name plastered all over it as an inspiration to the overcoming of terrible ... IDC's and insurance and all of the church the American virtues ... which is that Americans try this ... and he he it's ... I mean pathological if not add to the pathological ... liar ... who has now gone to the place of last resort ... the people I was hoping to be re-established of course Oprah Winfrey ... is one hell of a lot smarter than Lance Armstrong in every concrete when she's not going into that ... she's gonna take ... all the credit and all of the wonderful stuff that comes your way when you have ... a very valuable interview and she's going to take top honors for ... that kind of trophies guilt report Oriel integrity ... that few people ... on hand because she can and she is going to say he didn't she has already ... he didn't quite come off as a person who shelling contrite this ... that covers a lot of territory meaning ... in IPO ... he ... tried a lot of cool and I'm not buying it but you folks come and have a look ... to turn this into studio audience ... but whatever went on to it is in fact the picky Kiely ... move all day ... of Kindest PCs of of ... lying I know they said that in America ... you know ... who was born every minute of it cetera ... but the kind of arrogance that comes with Lance angst on ... the true sense of ... heroism ... I have done this I have done that in the month what he's done to all of those colleagues who is ... the isthe kind that can cure yet arrogance that ... the American people had not yet figured out ... speaking of compulsive liars incredible arrogance it looks like the defense here maybe ... that was the defense which is everybody else was doing and so I I do it to you what's the big deal ... Peter and go up ... in tech crew I didn't really is so nice that I mean that they've been his lawyers who said that I missed it entirely ... also he ... does not invest ni of ... the year as the year to say how did you think this ... held continue ... to Swat ... this is no larger insinuation ... we lived in the contemporary world of politics including the Obama administration would you can say ... of Black is a bread dough into equal sized and had a ham Assam on my and and and a buy and nobody will question it because you have to really got ... to the real reason for this reasoning ... to Success Creek wetlands Armstrong got away with and he wasn't voted in but the important thing is ... the willingness of people ... the willingness of the press ... though they raise questions to accommodate this kind of false depiction of reality when it became obvious to every school child ... that killing two equals five is not the case ... that is the sickness ... if truth cannot be ... kind of pure objective fact if everything ... is subject to moderation ... in that way much elation ... we are a lot of trouble ... I think Lance Johnstone is going to stand ... as a symbol ... of wiener American popular culture kids ... and I use the word culture inside the this is not just sports ... he is in himself a great big show ... and the number of people who waited all this long ... well Dorothy you heres an interesting point that it really about the media ... it's in Vivendi Mitt Lance Armstrong chose was certainly chosen ... just for that very reason he wouldn't probably get ... that that kind of interrogation he would get ... worried it come on a show ... of like this one ... I'm ... what does Oprah how to sew for position herself now she ... she's a news maker all the sudden makers in this interview I mean ... what are we did take of her credibility ... well ... I think that she is in their own way ... I think the real way ... a tough ... guy I've seen her in action we had before ... out with a book collector who ... sued and I did everything exactly ... up a list of thinking that if there was still of a a a Larry King doing this kind of thing ... he would get a lot of softball questions pretending to be high and full questions like selling gun into a little trouble over the other day so let's go on to something else though so when you have for breakfast morning stepping to secure ... that kind of thing is far more the case ... you know my my closest ... on sixty minutes ... doing this kind of thing relentlessly by ... him so open it is really ... a last resort of and maybe come into view I would not buy sound ... like a deal and sons John and be chasing the steely blue eyes concealed by that want ... goes under that want there are those steely blue eyes of Oprah ... the will be to break their editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz you thank you for being with us ... turning now to Washington in the issue of gun control ... here's President Obama ... I think that we've seen ... for some time now ... that's ... um ... those who oppose ... any common sense ... of ... gun control or gun safety measures ... I have ... a pretty effective way of giving up ... the ... fear ... on the part of ... gun owners somehow ... the federal government's ... about to ... take all your guns away ... Janie of fear President Obama exerting political re pressure on Republicans ... to pass stricter gun control laws ... the womb Democrats won their political firepower as well ... Potomac watch columnist Kim straw soul joins me now from Washington ... in the present seems to one action that the Democrats ... well as Israel problem here the week he's now in possession of these proposals that Vice President Joe Biden did with his ... I've had for some gun violence and he says he's going to come out with his actual recommendation soon ... over gaining a sense of what he is can a push for he is going to push for some ... level of restrictions on guns are access to guns and put it through Congress ... the problem that he had is that at this the Supreme bipartisan issue for Congress or Lisa has been for decades ... many many Democrats had very good ratings in terms of their boats from that the National rifle Association ... and they did not want to go down this road I didn't fairly quiet on this one and actually comes to putting forward legislation ... that would restrict access to guns ... when certainly haven't seen that reported anywhere outside direct ... our listeners and viewers to political diary work and has a piece on this ... and what to look at what the American people think about this issue ... via a recent Gallup poll ... forty three percent satisfied that the current minus ... thirty eight percent want stricter lies the gap seems to be narrowing ... I it doesn't look like this is a political winner so why would the White House continue its push for ... he came out on this he's also getting solutions huge pressure from his left on this ... at many men Gun Control community ... sitting on a Cadbury that has dictated made no progress on some of the gun control measures and want ... an ace on for Chile in this tragedy that happened in Kinetic it a chance ... to finally read that out and and try to change the narrative so they have been pressing the president very hard ... to do this he wants to look as though he's at it now it could be marrying this is interesting he is also going issues of executive orders ... most of them will not necessarily have to do with gun restrictions though probably be things for instance ordering further studies on gun violence or demanding that the Justice Department the tougher gun crimes ... I and what he made you hear is pasta over the gun restriction ... part said this over to Congress and then we get to it and then to take air missile peaking get credit ... from the left for having taken on this issue whereas there isn't much likelihood they head that this will pass through this existing Congress or at least not the degree that he's pushing and can't walk away says wash on Capitol Hill to do something ... rotten in this sit back and say ... gosh what's really examine and study ... why we have these terrible terrible mass shootings ... I they see me the little bit more frequent Weese recent years but let's look at the data and let's figure out ... how really to tackle this issue ... well I mean there are watching and that everything is getting credit less exacting in as acting immediately and that's what you see here even ... though my any puts together this task force but really the time for when it started to the moment which he delivered his recommendation was incredibly short ... with no real way to examine as you said some of these really pressing problems of what we know too it has some of the biggest problems are in fact he meant because they go to ... the mental health issue and questions like privacy laws ... on questions like via the interaction between patients and doctors ... these are these are enormous problems and an enormous that he she is ... they can take a one time to sort through and get the right solution we haven't done that I can so instead we're going have this on a half baked discussion now about what the president proposes that its chances of getting to Congress a lease on gun control sigh ... another half a discussion on Capitol Hill ... the surprise ... Potomac watch columnist Kim straw soul thank you for being ... with us ... next on Jason Riley is here to talk about Colin Powell playing the race card ... stay with us ... there's also the dollar ... the dollar and intolerance in some parts of the party ... when I mean by that ... I mean by that is the still sort of look down ... on ... minorities ... how can I evidence that ... when I see a former governor saying that the president is shocking in jive ... that's a racial or a slave term ... when I see another former governor ... after the president's first debate we didn't do very well ... says that the president with Lacey ... he didn't say he was slow he was tired he'd do well ... he said he was lazy ... welcome to papal Opinion Journal why Mary Kissel that was calling How ... conservatives and racism on Meet the Press on Sunday ... political diary editor Jason Riley joins me now ... by Jason at races under is a very serious charge when the evidence said his ... former General ... Powell have been slow ... will cling to that clip and you know yesterday we ... mark the fiftieth anniversary of George Wallace the spinners segregation today is the creation of our observation proper speech ... I when he was ... governor ... of Alabama and ... he think about the progress that's been made on rates over the past fifty years it was somewhat encapsulated ... in one piece on meet the press they have Colin Powell first ... black chairman joint Chiefs first ... black secretary of state ... aam disgusting The recently reelected first black president ... and aam ... completing ... about ... comment referring to a debate performance ... I ... that more widespread criticisms ... of the isthe is that all the recent need to be true and and what he singled out of the Republican party for Chris's them I'm not sure because ... the governor of of New York state Andrew Cuomo also referred ... to ... Obama as shocking in jogging during a press conference ... aam some years ago so I guess I'm not sure why he would single out ... the party ... it's true obviously that the Republican party ... has had a ... typical relationship with blacks in recent decades but ... in terms of of ... today ... the ... only black member of the U S Senate ... as a product of the Republican party ... not only upon it to the Republican primary ... but a product of that faction of the party the tea party movement ... that the left loves to single out ... for criticism so ... you also have the right to Rovio's out there the Brian Sandoval the Savannah Martinez's ... on the ... U ... S and in the trunk long haul I would see progress here and why he was in love with the prison the swim and I'm not I'm not sure that Colin Powell has encouraged and the Republican party to embrace ... with the liberal causes before higher taxes in Taurus President Obama ... any is that this is just a political decision on the car to meet the press but a conservative up their ... tied to the story of ... him to split the party they can point to one pounds and will ... he says you have probably eyeing sure why is ... it yet but I'd I think ... in policy or carved out a niche as being a Republican ... that will go on TV and be willing to criticize up fellow Republicans on certain issues not the criticism is bad but not at all aam saw the criticism continues never been seen as a conservative in his defense has been seen as Republican ... but again I don't think that these particular criticisms ... I'll hold a lot of water aam ... given what others in the Democratic Party have said on the same subject ... in Given province that the party ... has been making on this front in the midst of plenty ... about ... you know many issues that Colin Kahl Kentucky Anatomy ... O'Connell slot about education for instance the knows about the problems ... that the teachers unions posts reforming our schools that sickly ... schools in the inner city that many blacks and Hispanics and pour resins are forced to attend ... he could've gone out and talked about that use the platform ... to meet him to to have that discussion ... aam instead he ... decides to make this order partisan attack the party he's ... he's chosen to join and a party that pushed him ... to become president of the year to go ... excellent point you can see in there every Tuesday political diary editor Jason Riley thank you so much thank you for being with us next upper and talk about two of our favorite topics ... the New York Times and feminists and best of the Web columnist James trot so here it comes ... welcome back to Opinion Journal why Mary Kissel ... on the New York Times may be a famously left leaning paper ... that that doesn't mean they can't surprise once in awhile ... best of the Web columnist James Taranto joins me now ... to explain it ... really interesting ... op ed that recently appeared on the Gray lady's paces James what's going on well the Times ran a piece on ... Sunday in the Sunday paper by asserting that Darwin was wrong ... now they would say that Darwin was wrong about our ancestors having been the hot hairy apes ... I've bought isolated area in which the theory of evolution has more relevance today daylight which is odd ... by understanding central behavior ... so that it's like to think that the sexes are equal in every ... every fashion is to be one the workplace ... people and their ... relation personal relationships equal in every way ... I mean to soften a second one content noted that cited a dream he relented to reinforce it but it did so in an amazingly it'll actually slip shod way I mean it was that it was just a really dumb PS ... I'd buy at the height of ... the Darwin had two theories this tour of natural selection theory of sexual selection theory of sexual selection in brief ... says that the sexes evolve differently because ... on one sucks the female makes greater investing in reproduction and therefore I might get fridge right nine months and then some in the mm ay ay ay ay therefore has to put the pie ... the law to shorten it is by ... Darwin suggests that men are naturally permits to us and women are naturally occur unless they start seek to make upward ... and I did this is either there's a branch of evolution called evolutionary psychology that's devoted to wide ... conducting experiments too wide to test these hypotheses ... so this guy presented a couple of examples of experiments that seen on the service to this confirm them ... ICE if you look closely they confirm that ... okay ... well we got some interesting developments over at the times not just this op ed that they also close their environmental desk ... I blame global warming law that was that was going to be my question we got lesson and laughed James when you make of this development ... I'd I don't know when the times is either Times's the newspaper that has great legacy costs you know they still paid their employees a fixed benefit pension ... but something ... did ... you know might twenty years I've never had a fifth benefit pension ... so I've that they you know they have to make a lot of cutbacks and I'm not sure why they chose the environment desk bought side that that was a bit of a surprise it was awesome ... ten best of the Web columnist James Taranto thanks for being with us a sense it for opinion Journal today follow us on Twitter online and wherever they still sell